Trump: Left Kurds to Fend Against Turkey U.S. to Protect Syrian Oil But Now Back

Trump: “We're Off to Guard Syrian Oil”

(Leaving partner Kurds to battle Turkey) 

Bye bye Donald - WTF he's bacccck

New update here – parts selected below with my notes from here (NY Times) with this headline - original post here (Nov 3, 2019 listed below):

U.S. Resumes Operations Against ISIS in Northern Syria

Why? This reminder from Trump on the record saying:

“There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am. I know more about offense and defense than they will ever understand.  Believe me. Than they will ever understand. Than they will ever understand. I know more about ISIS [the Islamic State] than the generals do. Believe me.”

Most disconcerting for South Korea: “There is nobody who understands the horror of nuclear more than me.”

Background to date: The United States considers the Syrian Kurds a pivotal partner in the fight on the ground against ISIS, but Turkey views them as terrorists, a distinction that has repeatedly put Washington in a difficult position.

With a mercurial president (i.e., CinC Trump) who now has twice in 10 months ordered all American troops out of Syria immediately — only to reverse himself twice after aides implored him to reconsider (last time was to “protect Syrian oil) as we abandoned combat partners, the Kurds which pissed off our ally, Turkey and started attacking those same Kurds – whom they consider terrorists and now, here we go again). 

FYI: Senior commanders say the Pentagon has to be ready for another “no-notice message on Twitter” that American troops are leaving, oil or not. 

It was a message that VP Pence, on an unannounced pre-Thanksgiving visit to Iraq, repeated on Saturday (Nov 23) even as he sought to reinforce the administration’s support for the Kurds and the mission of protecting the oil fields.

Pence added: “President Trump is always going to look for opportunities to bring our troops home and to take these men and women out of harm’s way.”

Syrian Kurds who counted the United States as a friend and an ally accused Washington of betrayal immediately after the withdrawal from the border and the Turkish offensive. Army Green Berets who had fought alongside the Kurds and praised them for their valor said they felt ashamed at how the United States had treated the Kurds. The immediate fight may be on again against ISIS.

Then General McKenzie said that protecting the oil fields might ultimately draw a larger challenge from Syrian Army troops west of the Euphrates, he added in a separate interview before the security conference: “I’d expect at some point the regime will come forward to that ground.” 

FYI: The last time pro-Syrian government forces threatened American troops near the oil fields, in February 2018, the United States unleashed an artillery and aerial bombardment that left 200 to 300 of the attacking fighters dead. Most of that American air power is still nearby. At the security conference in Manama on Saturday, several top European and Middle Eastern officials urged their counterparts to continue applying unrelenting pressure on ISIS, which is also called Daesh, in northern Syria. 

France’s minister of armed forces, Florence Parly said: “ISIS leaders have been killed and territory reclaimed, but the profound crisis of governance that made Daesh’s emergence possible is still there. France’s aircraft will continue to strike relentlessly, and French forces will continue to train and equip partner forces.” 

Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs said: “ISIS also poses an ideological challenge with which we are also having to deal and which, frankly, only us in the region can take the lead in this fight. We need to expose terrorists for the thugs that they are.”

My 2 cents: “Regional countries need to take the lead in the fight…” 

Hell, I said that years ago… the U.S. can help, but not lead on the ground per se.

Now we wait and see how much smarter than the Generals Mr. Trump really is. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.